WATCH: R&B Up-and-Comer Samuel

Kanye West became the world's most rapidly followed Twitter-er last week, but just before he started talking about baby-mama jets and couture jogging suits, the chart-topping rapper was giving props on his blog to a young singer from the west side of Manhattan named Samuel, on the merits of the 22-year-old's cover of Drake's "Find Your Love."

"The thought of him sitting somewhere on a laptop and listening to that song is kind of mind-blowing," Samuel tells SPIN.com. "You just never expect anything like that. It's a nice little confidence boost."

But it's not just his Kanye-approved Drake cover, though, that's earning Samuel attention. His bubbly, summery ode to his hometown, "I Heart NY," was just released as part of an introductory EP, in advance of his forthcoming debut album, Trains to Wanderland. Watch its charming video below!

In the clip, Samuel (whose drops his last name, Hindes, as a recording artist) plays a New York City sanitation worker riding on a garbage truck, maintaining a smile on a cold winter's day. After work, he meets up with a lady friend for ice skating, party hopping, and bike riding, while using NYC as his backdrop.

"That's sort of what the song is about, growing up in New York City and seeing all these places from a moving point of view, like on the back of a truck," he says.

The track tinkles with a cutesy xylophone hook and a refrain of da-da-das, lip-synced in the video by Samuel's friends and family, including his mom and buddy Daniel Balk of New York rockers the Postelles.

No release date is set for Trains to Wanderland -- produced by NYC duo the Knocks (who met Samuel while he was attending NYU), with an assist from Greg Wells (Katy Perry, Mika) -- but look for Samuel on tour this fall, including a gig with hip-hoppers Chiddy Bang at NYC's Highline Ballroom later this month.